Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari has
revealed what he intends to do with the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation. President Buhari
said the national oil company will be divided into
two successor entities under his administration.
President Buhari revealed to journalists in
Washington DC that the decision would form one
of the key steps of his reform of the country’s oil
and gas sector.
While one of the successor companies will be an
independent regulator, the President said the
second would operate as an investment vehicle
for the country.
He said, “I am reforming the oil and gas sector,
breaking up the NNPC into two parts – the first
will become an independent regulator for the
sector, while the second will act as an investment
vehicle for the country.”
Buhari also said there would be a new bid round
for oil blocks in the country, adding that he
favours transparent auction process.
“I will also end political control of the awarding of
drilling and exploration rights by introducing a
system of independent, transparent auctioning for
licences,” the President said.
Senate President Bukola Saraki had, recently,
described the NNPC as the engine room of
corruption.
He lamented that none of the perpetrators of
illegal deals in the corporation had so far been
apprehended and brought to justice.
“You hardly see where people who are the real
engine room – which is the NNPC – where most
of these corruption cases on oil are, being put on
trial,” he said.
Similarly, Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir
el-Rufai, had last week called for the setting up of
another national oil firm as he argued that the
present NNPC would kill Nigeria if it was allowed
to continue running.
“If you don’t kill the NNPC, it will kill Nigeria,” el-
Rufai said.
Buhari, as part of the ongoing reform of several
strata of the country, said his administration
would merge the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission and the Independent Corrupt
Practices and other Related Offences Commission
into one strong and more effective anti-graft
agency.
He said, “Corruption is one of the top three issues
facing Nigeria, along with insecurity and
unemployment. We must act to kill corruption or
corruption will kill Nigeria. I am determined to
lead that fight.
“My government is already taking several steps to
cut out the cancer of corruption that has been
eating away at the state for so long.
“We are reorganising the existing plethora of anti-
corruption bodies into single powerful agency that
will have the focus, power and budget to clamp
down on corruption at the federal and state
levels.”
The President said ministers would no longer
have power to award contracts while announcing
the introduction of a new system of plea
bargaining to encourage looters of the
government money and oil thieves to return the
people’s stolen commonwealth.
He said, “I have already acted to remove political
control over awarding of contracts away from
ministers who use them to get political favours
and kickbacks.
“I will introduce a new system of plea bargain,
that will allow those who have stolen assets and
funds to return them – but if they do not take
that opportunity we will pursue them through the
courts.”
President Buhari insisted that his administration
would not relent in asking foreign countries,
including the US, to help in returning stolen funds
that are sitting in private accounts abroad, but
rightfully belonging to the people of Nigeria.
The President also lamented that the country had
become over-dependent on oil because of the
incompetence and corruption of government that
concentrated on “how best to steal oil revenues
instead of how best to use our oil windfalls to
invest in a modern, growing economy.”
Rather than continue to depend on oil, Buhari said
Nigeria must become a manufacturing giant.
“I will not be satisfied until the label ‘Made in
Nigeria’ is as common globally, as the label
‘Made in China,'” he added.
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